College acceptances, or four years and thousands of dollars for a piece of paper

[Nyokou]

Going to college is something really important for my parents. My dad went to the National Autonomous University of Mexico and my mom only graduated from high school in Mexico. The big difference I've seen is that my mom, with only her high school education, has only reached her goal of being a secretary at a Family Counseling center for drug and alcohol addicts. It really, really saddens me though because when we were kids she tried so hard to go to medical school but just couldn't because of my brothers and I. It was too much of a responsibility for my dad alone (we were all young only 5 years apart, four of us) so my mom ended up quitting her studies and night job as a nurse to take care of us.

However, since my dad got a decent education in graphic design (yes, the very early stages of graphic design using computers) he got pretty good jobs at first. He worked at a Newspaper at one point before getting hired at Capital One where he worked for about 8 years and now he's one of the best bilingual graphic designers in the country. Various contacts and everything, so he's pretty successful now working as a freelancer.

My dad really inspires me and so does my mom. I want to become as successful as my dad, you know, something artistic, but I also want to go to college and get an education that my mom never had the opportunity to get. She really sacrificed a lot for my brothers and I, even her dream of becoming a doctor.

._.'

Anyway, I'm going to start writing my applications this summer, although it seems unlikely that I'll be going the fall of 2010 (the year I graduate) because of a personal inconvenience that needs to be fixed beforehand. So, I'm most likely entering college in spring of 2011 or fall of 2011.

I'm applying to...

Virginia Commonwealth University
George Mason University
Minneapolis College of Art and Design
University of Northern Iowa
Ringling School of Art and Design
Full Sail University

2 schools in Virginia, 2 in Iowa and 2 in Florida.

I'll probably apply to others as well but I don't know. I've also been thinking of taking some online classes at the Academy of Art University (Cali) but I'm not sure about that either.

[Relambrien]

Originally Posted by OrganisM

Given that it's a popular opinion, it was perfectly reasonable for me to assume you were being serious, particularly because you gave no strong indication one way or the other. In any case, it does bring up an interesting topic of discussion.

I figured I was being sufficiently sarcastic, but you're right, this is quite an interesting topic.

I recognize that most of what I learn as an undergrad isn't going to be very useful to me, just like most of what I'm learning in high school isn't going to be very useful to me. But the experience of being able to live on your own, keep track of yourself and make sure that you stay on the path you want, and figure out how you want to apply yourself to the world makes college worth it.

[JKPolk]

Originally Posted by foilman8805

WTF, 6 months??

How?

Our school offers a BS/MS program. If you get accepted into the program (sign up in your junior year usually), you can take classes that will count toward both your BS and MS degrees. For example, the current plan has the setup where you take two 4000 level courses and two grad courses in your senior year that count for both BS and MS credit, 3 credits each course towards MS. Needing 30 credits total for an MS, you're left to only take 18 credits the year after you get your BS to receive your MS.

The boat I'm in, I'll have 4 grad courses and 2 4000 level courses completed, that's 18 credits. If I put enough effort in, I'll be able to finish in 6 mo. With a new plan that they're trying to enact where AE majors can count up to 4 4000 level courses, I could have easily over 20, close to 24 credits towards my MS by my BS graduation in 2010.

[Mogsworth]

I only applied to four schools, so a rejection is going to hit harder than a lot of other people in my class (many of whom applied to at least seven). I only applied to:

James Madison University
University of Texas at Austin
Rhode Island College
Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts

The only school I've heard back from is UT, and I got rejected for my music composition major (since my guidance department sent both my audition tape and portfolio to the wrong location), but got into the school itself (since I put down Psychology as a fallback major). My audition for RIC is March 7th, MCLA doesn't have an audition (which is why it's my absolute last choice), and I had my JMU audition last Monday. I sure hope that I get into JMU, now that I've been to the campus; incredibly wonderful atmosphere, some of the friendliest people I've ever met, and the professors are awesome.

[OrganisM]

Originally Posted by Relambrien

But the experience of being able to live on your own, keep track of yourself and make sure that you stay on the path you want, and figure out how you want to apply yourself to the world makes college worth it.

Oh yeah, I wasn't contesting that. I agree that college is worth it.

[Prime8]

Last year, I applied to University of Texas. Without my prior knowledge or acceptance, my mom applied for me to Texas Tech University as well. I didn't find out about this until I got a letter saying I was accepted there. I thought something was fishy about all the damn essays I had to write, so I know now that all of them weren't just for one application.

I was late applying for college (thus why my mom was doing a lot of it for me) and even though I got accepted to both places, I missed the deadline for scholarships at UT. We barely made the scholarship deadline for Texas Tech, but I got a buttload of money. Most of it comes from the South Plains Math Scholars thing I made it into. I never even heard of Texas Tech before (rofl) and I just wanted to go to UT. It was only 2 - 2 1/2 hours away and all my friends were going there. But money was the deciding factor, so I ended up here at TTU. 9 hours from home and away from the few friends I had. I basically hate it here and have never been so depressed as I have been here (sadface). Lesson is: don't wait till the last minute to apply and don't choose a college simply because of the money

I'm currently enrolled as a double Mathematics/Computer Science major. I'm trying to do the 5 year program in 4 years. I chose Math because it's my forte and Comp Sci because it's interesting to me (and obviously I enjoy games blah blah blah). Not sure what I want to do with this degree, or even what all available options are with it. I might switch over to CompSci/Music because I've wanted to do video game music for quite some time (I'm simply not that talented though). One thing holding me back from doing that is my scholarship money, which are mostly departmental with Math.

[MrRubix]

C-c-c-combo breaker

[OrganisM]

...what are you talking about?

[foilman8805]

Too many Flash games for Rubix. He's gone off the deep end.

[gafandriel]

I just picked up a full ride to frost school of music, university of miami. LArry Laplin( the head of the program) auditioned me last weekend and gave me full ride on my vocal jazz major


Woot Woot

[Vuture]

I'm a junior, WEWT! lol. But I'm alread in college at DeVry Univesity for Network System Administration. I'm thinking about going to MIT, Carnagie, or UCLA.

[FishFishRevolution]

can i get a [holla]shout out[holla back] for all the drop-outs out there?